Reform pledges immigration detention centres in areas of Scotland with Green MSPs
Reform candidates said the detention centres would be built in constituencies that vote for Green candidates
Scottish immigration detention centres will be established in seats where Green MSPs have been elected, should Reform win power at Westminster, the party have said.
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Zia Yusuf, Reform UK's home affairs spokesman, announced that a Reform UK government at Westminster would not build immigration detention centres in seats held by their own MPs, or where Reform was in control of the local authority
Speaking on Sunday, Mr Yusuf said that Green voters will “get what they vote for” as part of Reform’s push for mass deportations.
The announcement creates a dilemma for Reform in Scotland, as current polls suggest the party could return MSPs in all seven of the country’s regions in the upcoming election on Thursday.
When asked for clarity on how the policy would be executed should Nigel Farage become prime minister, Reform councillor Thomas Kerr said the detention centres would be built in constituencies that elect Green MSPs.
He said that areas that elected a Reform constituency MSP would be exempted.
“Ross Greer and his army of crackpots’ pursuit of open borders, which would allow swathes of foreign criminals to enter Scotland unchecked, is not only economically reckless but a danger to national security,” Mr Kerr said.
“But let’s not kid ourselves – John Swinney’s entire future hinges on these extremists, so Scotland needs to know what they are getting.
“If the Greens are so keen to welcome these people then they can take responsibility and put them up in their own constituencies. The choice is clear: Vote Green, get illegals.”
Scottish Green co-leader Ross Greer likened the policy to “bullying” of the electorate, claiming Reform UK "are now openly threatening voters".
"Offord and Farage want to turn this country into Donald Trump’s America, a place where those who oppose their hateful politics are threatened and attacked."
“People across Scotland are ready to reject this vile outfit of ex-Tories, conspiracy theorists and billionaires. This latest threat shows that the best way to do that is by voting Scottish Greens on your regional, peach-coloured ballot paper.
“The fact that they are led in Scotland by a multimillionaire lord who owns six homes, six boats and five cars tells us everything we need to know about these chancers. Reform has no interest in making people’s lives easier.“
Mr Greer emphasised the work of the Greens in the past, including delivering free bus travel for young people and scrapping peak rail fares.
He said his party "were prepared to go even further", establishing free bus travel for all citizens and "a childcare system that families can actually afford.“
"Let’s show that hope and unity will always defeat hate and division.”
Speaking in Dumfries, First Minister John Swinney said: “I simply think this is an illustration of the dangerous nature of Reform’s politics.
“If there was an illustration of an attempt to divide communities, that policy announcement epitomises it.
“That is division, divisive politics, in practice and I’ve made it clear, that’s why I’ll have nothing to do with Reform, that’s why there will be no place for Reform in the governance of Scotland, if I become the first minister and I have the majority in the Scottish Parliament, because we cannot go down this route.
“It is the route to division, to disorder and it divides our communities and I will have none of it.”